The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect-like creature.

Marguerite Donnadieu, known as Marguerite Duras (4 Apr 1914 – 3 Mar 1996) was a French writer and film director. She authored many novels, plays, films, interviews, essays and short fiction, including her best-selling, apparently autobiographical work L'Amant (1984), translated into English as "The Lover," which describes her youthful affair with a Chinese man. Text won Goncourt prize in 1984. Story of her adolescence also appears in "The Sea Wall," "Eden Cinema" and "The North China Lover."